Saturday, March 05, 2011

I spent last weekend traveling around Arizona for events - Saturday at Velma Teague Library in Glendale, hosted by my favorite librarian/book review blogger, Lesa Holstein, and Sunday at an event in the most unusual bookstore I've ever seen, Singing Wind Bookshop. Singing Wind is located on a working cattle ranch just outside of Benson, Arizona, which is some 60 miles east of Tucson, in the southern part of the state. The shop is owned by Winn Bundy (below left, with me) and her husband Joe and managed by the inimitable Kathy Suagee( right). I don't want to betray any confidences, here, but I will say that Winn and Joe are people who have been around for a while, Arizona ranchers who are about as no-nonsense as they come.

Singing Wind has been a Tucson/Benson/Sierra Vista institution for decades, and is going strong, I'm pleased to say, even though it is located out in the wilderness, and one literally has to drive half a mile down a dirt road to get to it. The parking area is an empty field some yards from the house (Yes, the shop is in the ranch house), and you get the added pleasure

of a nice hike past a herd of friendly horses to get where you're going.

Much has been written lately about the demise of bookstores. If Borders stores can't make it even though they are the size of Walmarts and located in the middle of affluent population centers, what can be the message when an eclectic shop like Singing Wind - which does not even have an internet presence,

I might add - is still drawing crowds of 75 to 100 people per event?

Part of it certainly is that Singing Wind is unique. It is also a southern Arizona institution, as is Winn herself. She puts on large author events several times a year and includes a big buffet spread. She advertises in the local newspapers and has an international mailing list. I always meet several Canadians when I'm there.

When the weather is nice, which it usually is, the luncheon is outdoors under the trees, often a barbeque. Last weekend was chilly (in fact I saw snow for the first time in five years), so she laid out the buffet in her living room. I would guess that fifty or sixty people showed up, for which Winn blamed the snow. The last time I was there in February, there were easily 100. Four mystery authors (Elizabeth Gunn, Susan Cummins Miller, Jeff Marriott, and myself) spoke and a fabulous local folk band called the Ronstadt Generation performed. We all mingled and schmoozed,ate together, laughed a lot and signed dozens of books apiece.

Has Winn has caught lightning in a bottle, or does she simply adhere to the basic tenet of retail? Give the people what they want, which in this case is a great product and an equally great experience.

Cathy, I read your great Singing Wind blog entry from last June on http://kittlingbooks.com. It's just such remarkable place that you can't believe your eyes the first time you go out there. And BTW, I'm glad you're feeling better.

Rick Blechta writes on Tuesdays

Barbara Fradkin writes on alternate Wednesdays

Sybil Johnson writes on Alternate Wednesdays

John Corrigan writes on alternate Thursdays

Donis Casey writes on alternate Thursdays

Charlotte Hinger writes on alternate Fridays

Frankie Bailey writes on Alternate Fridays

Vicki Delany writes on the second weekend of every month

Mario Acevedo writes on the 4th Saturday of each month

Aline Templeton

Aline Templeton lives in Edinburgh in a house with a balcony overlooking the beautiful city skyline. Her series featuring DI Marjory Fleming is set in beautiful Galloway, in South-west Scotland. alinetempleton.co.uk

Marianne Wheelaghan

Marianne is from Edinburgh. She left home at seventeen. After a heap of travelling, which included living in Kiribati, the third most remote country in the world, she ended back in Edinburgh where she still lives very happily. Her crime mysteries feature DS Louisa Townsend, The Scottish Lady Detective, and are mostly set in the Pacific. Read more about Marianne and her books on her blog: www.mariannewheelaghan.co.uk and at @MWheelaghan

Rick Blechta

Rick has two passions in life, mysteries and music, and his thrillers contain liberal doses of both. He has two upcoming releases, Roses for a Diva, his sequel to The Fallen One, for Dundurn Press, and for Orca’s Rapid Reads series, The Boom Room, a second book featuring detectives Pratt & Ellis. You can learn more about what he’s up to at www.rickblechta.com. From the musical side, Rick leads a classic soul band in Toronto. Check out SOULidifiedband.com. And lastly, being a former line cook with an interest in all things culinary, he has a blog dedicated to food: A Man for All Seasonings.

Barbara Fradkin

Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. Her dark short stories haunt the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, but she is best known for her award-winning series featuring the quixotic, exasperating Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green, published by Dundurn Press. The ninth book, The Whisper of Legends, was published in April 2013. Visit Barbara at barbarafradkin.com.

Sybil Johnson

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Find her at www.authorsybiljohnson.com.

John R Corrigan

John R. Corrigan is D.A. Keeley, author of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote series, which is set along the Maine-Canada border. Bitter Crossing (summer 2014) will be the first of at least three novels in the series. Born in Augusta, Maine, he lives with his wife and three daughters at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts, where he is English department chair, a teacher, a hockey coach, and may very well be the only mystery writer in North America who also serves as a dorm parent to 50 teenage girls. A Mainer through and through, he tries to get to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, as often as possible. You can see what he's up to by visiting www.amazon.com/author/DAKeeley or dakeeleyauthor.blogspot.com or on Twitter (@DAKeeleyAuthor).

Donis Casey

Donis is the author of six Alafair Tucker Mysteries. Her award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, AZ, with her husband, poet Donald Koozer. The latest Alafair Tucker novel, The Wrong Hill to Die On (Poisoned Pen Press, 2012), is available in paper or electronic format wherever books are sold. Readers can enjoy the first chapter of each book on her web site at www.doniscasey.com.

Frankie Bailey

Frankie Y. Bailey is a criminal justice professor who focuses on crime, history, and American culture. Her current project is a book about dress, appearance, and criminal justice. Her mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart is set mainly in the South. Her near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe is set in Albany, New York. Visit Frankie at frankieybailey.com.

Charlotte Hinger

Charlotte Hinger is a novelist and Western Kansas historian. Convinced that mystery writing and historical investigation go hand in hand, she now applies her MA in history to academic articles and her depraved imagination to the Lottie Albright series for Poisoned Pen Press. charlottehinger.com

Vicki Delany/Eva Gates

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of more than 25 books, including the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas cozy series, the Constable Molly Smith books, standalone novels of suspense, the Klondike Gold Rush series, and novellas for adult literacy. As Eva Gates, she is the author of the national bestselling Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin. Find Vicki at www.vickidelany.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor/

Mario Acevedo

Mario Acevedo is the author of the Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. His short fiction is included in the anthologies, You Don’t Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens and Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, and in Modern Drunkard Magazine. Mario lives with a dog in Denver, CO. His website is marioacevedo.com.